Dog Vocal Communication Portal - science in action!

• Audio samples

I hope you enjoy these little sound bites, recorded by Anna for the Vocal Dog project. They are examples of just a few of the sounds dogs are able to make, and will hopefully help to illustrate the vocal repertoire of the domestic dog (see below). I will be adding more files as the project progresses -- if you wish to submit vocalisations, please follow this link for more information.

If possible, please right-click and "save as", in order to protect bandwidth.

• Disturbance Task

Rottweiler - growlbark

German Shepherd - bark & growl

Staffordshire terrier - growl

English Cocker Spaniel - growlbark

Cairn Terrier - bark

• Isolation Task

German Shepherd - whimper

Lurcher - whimper

Shar Pei - trill/whimper

English Cocker Spaniel - bark/whimper

Jack Russel Terrier - whine

4-month-old Labrador puppy - cry (very distinct puppy whines)

• Play Task

German Shephard X Siberian Husky - bark

Flat-Coated Retriever - growl

Border Collie - bark

Springer Spaniel - growlbark

Staffordshire Terrier - bark

Jack Russel Terrier - growl

• Other interesting vocalisations

Basset Hound - bark (vocalisation was given in a frustration situation - the dog was very scared of the experiementer, but was torn between hiding and approaching because the experimenter was holding her favourite treat)

Greyhound - growl-talking

Border Collie - sing-howling (very talented!)

Staffordshire Terrier - greeting whimper

Border Collie - yelp (in response to being accidentally stepped on by her owner during the recordings)

Cain Terrier - growl-talking

• The (very simplified) repertoire of the domestic dog

Please note that I'm well-aware that the dog's repertoire is more extended and more complex than what I've presented in the table below. This table is based on one of the only bioacoustic studies of dog vocalisations (by Dr Dorit Federsen-Petersen, see references), and is designed to provide an overview of the dog's vocal abilities. I think any dog owner will be aware that the range of these abilities is considerable - many variations and combinations have been observed ... and after all, the current lack of scientific knowledge is the whole reason we're doing this project!

NAME	TYPE*	MOTIVATION
GROWL	NOISY	At low frequencies: warning or aggression (signalling a motivation to increase the social distance). At higher frequencies: play
GROWL	HARMONIC	Same as noisy growls
BARK	NOISY	Aggression (towards humans or other dogs) or rambunctuous play
BARK	HARMONIC	Relaxed social play
WHINE	HARMONIC	Fear or pain (and possibly boredom?)
WHIMPER	HARMONIC	Greeting humans or other dogs (signalling a motivation to decrease the social distance) or care-solicitation (e.g when in isolation to stimulate reunification with "pack" members)
HOWL	HARMONIC	Reunification with "pack" members (and possibly to reinforce social bonds between "pack" members)

*TYPE refers to the harmonic to noise ratio (HNR). For simplicity's sake, vocalisations have been labelled "noisy" when this ratio is low and "harmonic" when this ratio is high.